Monday, March 09, 2009

I never did blog about Thanksgiving last year. A shame, really, as I'd made for my family this Crock Pot Seitan Roast. Aside from nearly killing my brother* with it, it was a huge hit!

The recipe makes quite a large roast so I froze half of it and just remembered I had it in the freezer last week so I thawed it and have been enjoying the easiest, most delicious dish I've made up in a looooong time.

See, I love seitan, but it's hard to find the right recipe or the right flavor or texture. While I'd made this particular roast before and enjoyed it, it didn't really sing. I figured it just needed the right sauce or accompaniments.

Enter the thawed roast on a night when I was exhausted, didn't have much in the house save some staples and a ridiculous hunger for some comfort food.

Seitan Roast in a Marsala Reduction Over Mashed Cauliflower was born.It's not really a recipe...but here's how it goes.

Heat about a tablespoon of Smart Balance in hot pan. Slice seitan to the thickness of your liking (I prefer very thin slivers and lots of 'em, but the Cap'n requested thicker pieces tonight so we went that route. still good!) and brown on each side. Ladle in a few tablespoons of the roast's juices (from the bag or container you're keeping your seitan in) into the pan, add a few glugs of marsala cooking wine and a few splashes of lemon juice. This is all on med heat until it bubbles and begins to thicken. Then reduce the heat to med lo and let it all reduce, turning the seitan periodically.

As for the cauliflower**, I just chop up a head, steam it, smash it, add a little Smart Balance, a splash or two of soy milk, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and mix with a fork until fluffy. Serve the seitan over a cloud of this and a side of your favorite green veggie.

You could make a gravy, but you don't even need it.

*the roast calls for vegan oyster sauce made with shitake mushrooms. my little brother is allergic to mushrooms and I had him try it, totally forgetting about the mushrooms in the mix. he woke up the morning after thxgiving with a throat near swollen clothes. I foolishly asked him, what the heck did you eat?! oops!

**I've seen some recipes for mashed cauliflower that call for using corn starch and a cooking method of cooking that requires entirely too many steps. it may not help the carb quotient, but I tend to think of making mashed cauliflower whenever I have one or two of those little potatoes all lonely in the bag. They seem to help achieve a fluffy, less watery texture.